The collection consists of a typewritten transcript of Mason's autobiography from 1791 to 1831; four logs which he kept in HMS AMPHION (1798) between 1805 and 1808; a watch bill for HMS WARSPITE, undated; a signal book, undated; and copies of five letters written between 1805 and 1812 concerning Mason’s ancestor Daniel Finch (1647-1730), second Earl of Nottingham.

Administrative / biographical background
Mason was born in India in 1791 and entered the Navy in 1803. He was a midshipman on HMS PRINCE (1788) in the Channel fleet and at the Battle of Trafalgar, then on the frigate HMS AMPHION (1798) in the Mediterranean. While conducting a prize to Malta in 1809, he was taken prisoner by the French. He escaped from captivity during the following year and after a period of four months finally reached England via Holland. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1811 and then served on HMS DREADNOUGHT (1801), HMS AMERICA (1810) and then HMS KENT (1798), off Lisbon and in the Mediterranean. His last appointment was on the frigate HMS FORTH (1813). Mason was promoted to the rank of commander in 1815, after which he saw no further active service. During his retirement he purchased an estate at Hilfield, Yately, was admitted as a steward of the Seamen’s Hospital Society and became a magistrate at Hampshire County Sessions. He was promoted to captain on the retired list in 1854 and died at Winchester in 1870.